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Stagnant said:
This isn't a rebuilding year. This is a rebuilding decade. Poor Juju. Poor Lauren Betts. Poor Hannah Hidalgo. Maybe poor Sarah Strong. Lottery picks will be forced to go there. Even though that franchise is frankly no longer operating (maybe they never were) in good faith.
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And you're basing this "lack of good faith on....?" The situations that just unfolded? Can you please spell out some bullet points that back up your blanket statement?

My only pointed criticism with the Sun is that they either didn't construct a contract and/or let Steph White walk away from a contract for absolutely nothing. Something should've been gained by that and, frankly, I don't care if there were personal reasons involved for White wanting to be in Indiana. She's jetting around the country doing work for ESPN in the off-season.
 
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I think if you don’t have a plan to build a practice facility, you don’t deserve to have a future in this league. I don’t like the idea of radically different pro experiences depending on what team you are on.

Every week a new city is showing enthusiasm about adding a wnba franchise. Tennessee, Portland, etc. but the league shouldn’t over expand imo. Instead the league should come up with guidelines that must be followed by every franchise. If CT or Atlanta or someone else fails to meet those guidelines; there will be some grounds to force a sale.

I also don’t love the location for the sun. If the franchise were in Hartford, I would feel better about their ability to remain viable.
 
Also, to shift gears and talk about what I really meant to talk about. The trade activity by Dallas really solidifies the notion that they won’t trade the number one pick. You don’t move around all of these separate pieces if you are going to move the #1 pick. Moving the #1 pick first would have been the priority.
 
Stagnant said:
I think if you don’t have a plan to build a practice facility, you don’t deserve to have a future in this league. Every week a new city is showing enthusiasm about adding a wnba franchise. Tennessee, Portland, etc.

I also don’t love the location. If the franchise were in Hartford, I would feel better about it’s ability to remain viable.
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Second point first:
- As noted more thoroughly in a previous post, that franchise was saved (bought and moved) to eastern Connecticut, pairing it with the casino. That's how "well" women's basketball was not doing at the time.
Could they play in a stronger area such as Hartford, Providence or Boston? Maybe. But Washington, Atlanta and Dallas aren't maximizing their city affiliations very well now.
- As @cancontent has noted, the Sun are not the only franchise without dedicated practice facilities: Chicago, Los Angeles...come on down. And a lot of the other franchises just finished/firmed theirs up.

The owners do have a choice to make, which is to up investment and make dedicated practice facilities.

Me thinks the results of the renegotiated CBA might put leverage on that, move to another city or sell. We'll see. Stay tuned.
I'm still interested if Meesemann comes over....;)
 
hoopsdiva said:
The problem isn't that it's a rebuilding year. The problem is that they can't attract anyone to rebuild with or keep anyone to rebuild around.
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Yet. If memory serves correct, this is the first time they've had to do a major revamp in a long time. While the franchise has a lot of faults/weakspots, there are other franchises who have been in similar situations that have been able to turn it around.

It wasn't long ago that Atlanta wasn't attractive to players with the previous ownership group. They're still a long ways away from being on par with other teams with respect to arena size, facilities, etc. Look who they landed this season.

Give the new front office and Morgan Tuck a chance to put something together.
 
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Stagnant said:
I am very down on the franchise, but yes. There will be a collective bargaining agreement and that will be Connecticut’s opportunity to decide what they want to do.
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Agreed. If things continue to persist, it's a different story. For me, it's too soon to say the franchise needs to move when a new front office has to establish their long term plan.
 
Props to Atlanta for making moves, but is anybody curious how Griner and B. Jones are going to fit together? Both play as paint-bound posts more often than not. Griner has actually shown a nice three in the past but you don’t stick 6’9” on the perimeter for extended stretches.

It’s very possible that Jones fills in as an excellent backup off the bench, but it just seems like an odd pairing to me especially if Charles returns. Add to that that Smesko has never really had a dominant big in his system, let alone two. I’m curious to see how it all fits together. Atlanta’s probably not in title contender territory with NY/Vegas/Minnesota returning their cores but the team potential is high for sure.
 
Stagnant said:
Also, to shift gears and talk about what I really meant to talk about. The trade activity by Dallas really solidifies the notion that they won’t trade the number one pick. You don’t move around all of these separate pieces if you are going to move the #1 pick. Moving the #1 pick first would have been the priority.
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Totally agree with that.
 
GoChips20 said:
Props to Atlanta for making moves, but is anybody curious how Griner and B. Jones are going to fit together? Both play as paint-bound posts more often than not. Griner has actually shown a nice three in the past but you don’t stick 6’9” on the perimeter for extended stretches.

It’s very possible that Jones fills in as an excellent backup off the bench, but it just seems like an odd pairing to me especially if Charles returns. Add to that that Smesko has never really had a dominant big in his system, let alone two. I’m curious to see how it all fits together. Atlanta’s probably not in title contender territory with NY/Vegas/Minnesota returning their cores but the team potential is high for sure.
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Brittany Griner has been a good inside-out passer and I thought that could work for Atlanta's three-pt. shooters.
But then signing Jones through a wrench into my reasoning, because she's not really that linch-pin type of center.

Atlanta GM Padover was initially a Trader Bill Laimbeer acolyte (geesh, we can't get out of his way today). And they liked overwhelming teams with posts. Here we go again. ;)
 
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cancontent said:


This is a great point.
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2026 will be even more insane, with most of the vets being free agents and the new CBA.
Just think, it will the the "inside out" of roster building: how do these free agents fit with my rookie contracts? ;)
 
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The Mohegan Tribe paid 10 million dollars to purchase the Orlando Miracle and move the defunct team to Connecticut in 2003. Expansion teams currently cost around $150 Million.

The tribe should consider selling the team outright to one of groups wanting a team. Or, sell the team to the NBA and make a deal with the league to provide a G-League team to the Mohegan Sun.

This option is better because it would benefit the tribe as it would be provided with an alternate team to play in their 10,000 seat arena.
 
So the Sun gave Dijonai away for basically nothing? I guess maybe they could be high on Sheldon. Could also be swapping in a cheaper contract.
 
That's a move that strongly hints at tanking. Carrington was the most improved player last year and a first team all defensive player. She is a player that is still on the way up. She hasn't hit her peak yet. And Dallas will get to see that peak and all they had to do was give up Jacy Sheldon? (Who I like.) What a bargain for dallas.
 
Stagnant said:
That's a move that strongly hints at tanking. Carrington was the most improved player last year and a first team all defensive player. She is a player that is still on the way up. She hasn't hit her peak yet. And Dallas will get to see that peak and all they had to do was give up Jacy Sheldon? (Who I like.) What a bargain for dallas.
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@12au
My suggestion earlier this morning was to ask Curt Miller -- who drafted and coached Carrington while he was at the Sun -- for the #8 draft pick and a player like Sheldon, Siegrist or Senechal. Sun GM got that, but she also gave the #12 pick up that they received from the Mercury, which -- in my view -- brought the value of the trade way down.

I'm not quite as high on what Dallas has done. There are a lot of recognizable individual names coming into Dallas. Can they work together? But which rookie point guard -- if any -- in the draft will run them?

p.s. Sorry, Stagnant: I highly doubt new GM Morgan Tuck and the more senior execs around her are tanking at this point. Maybe not making moves you or others like, but not tanking. ;)
 
I'm fine with the trade by Indiana. I know signing Howard was separate, but looking at all their moves together I think they did great. Smith wasn't happy there, moving her was best for all parties. There may be a lot of players they threw at that 3 position, but none of them really did much to earn minutes until Hull blew up during the second half of the season. By my count that leaves 3 players who did very little. Adding another viable option at that position is a very good move.
 
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As a Connecticut Sun follower since they moved to our state watching what has transpired so far in this offseason it’s time for the tribe to ax Morgan Tuck and Jennifer Rizzotti.
 
jdote33 said:
Id actually like them to go after chennedy Carter to replace JL
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Hard pass. 2 franchises already moved on from her despite her talent, and although she was considered to have a career resurgence in Chicago, it doesn't really sound like it was all rosy. Too much trouble, not worth the risk.
 
Stagnant said:
This isn't a rebuilding year. This is a rebuilding decade. Poor Juju. Poor Lauren Betts. Poor Hannah Hidalgo. Maybe poor Sarah Strong. Lottery picks will be forced to go there. Even though that franchise is frankly no longer operating (maybe they never were) in good faith.
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The issue you have is that the Sun currently have an owner. The owner would have to agree to either sell the franchise, or move it.

If the league wants to force a move, they would have to go to court. The tribe can't be seen as negligent, they have just had a run of success in the W.

A franchise owner has rights within the league. It's very difficult to remove one because players and fans unhappy. NY Jets, Cincy Reds, Oakland A's, LA Clippers, KC Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates have peeved fans and players for decades without action taken.
 
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packwrap said:
A franchise owner has rights within the league. It's very difficult to remove one because players and fans unhappy.
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Didn't the Dream players force the former owner out?
 
Just some of the thoughts bouncing around my addled brain this afternoon.

  • Ty Harris and Rebecca Allen must feel like they're pinballs, having changed teams twice in a few days.
  • Did the Sun know they were going to get and then send (Rebecca) Allen for (Lindsay) Allen? The reason I ask is Allen is the ostensible back-up PG for Cloud now, right? So what's Jacy Sheldon going to do? Be the off guard, while Marina Mabey moves to wing?
  • Looking back at that Dallas trade, wonder if Maddy Siegrist would've been the better target to play forward. Who is now?
  • BTW, I'm a homer Domer, but Lindsey Allen played pretty well for the Sky last year and she most certainly gets and plays well with Mabrey, dating back to South Bend days.
  • Oliva Nelson-Ododa, get ready for lots of PT.
  • Rizzotti and Tuck better have Meesemman signed, sealed and almost delivered or this is going to be a long season...OR...is there another trade coming, with Natasha Cloud as the lure?
  • Looking at the draft, might want to consider Morrow or Westbeld at #8 to play power forward.
 
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Dillon77 said:
p.s. Sorry, Stagnant: I highly doubt new GM Morgan Tuck and the more senior execs around her are tanking at this point. Maybe not making moves you or others like, but not tanking. ;)
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Tanking for what? They would tank to get the '26 top pick in a rebuild. Since lottery based on 2 years of results, Sun would not have a good chance in lottery anyway.

Salary savings? A star makes $250k and a rookie makes $80k. All teams are basically at the salary cap. Total payroll is currently so low that a savings there doesn't matter.

If Sun was really a financial burden, tribe would just sell it for the nice easy profit.

Appears they are just using loss of their older free agent stars as a chance to get younger all around. Even if Sun have an off year in 2025, they can be more active again in 2026 when new CBA in place, and free agents will sign long term again.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Hard pass. 2 franchises already moved on from her despite her talent, and although she was considered to have a career resurgence in Chicago, it doesn't really sound like it was all rosy. Too much trouble, not worth the risk.
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nwhoopfan said:
Hard pass. 2 franchises already moved on from her despite her talent, and although she was considered to have a career resurgence in Chicago, it doesn't really sound like it was all rosy. Too much trouble, not worth the risk.
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3 franchises….
 
Geew1992 said:
3 franchises….
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I wasn't sure if Chicago is pushing her out or if it was her choice to look elsewhere.

Yeah, if it's 3 franchises, I honestly don't know why anyone would even give her a look at this point. She's not gonna make a bad team better and she's probably not gonna put a contender over the top, and either way the risk of her blowing up the locker room is too much.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I wasn't sure if Chicago is pushing her out or if it was her choice to look elsewhere.

Yeah, if it's 3 franchises, I honestly don't know why anyone would even give her a look at this point. She's not gonna make a bad team better and she's probably not gonna put a contender over the top, and either way the risk of her blowing up the locker room is too much.
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True. Unfortunate, but true.
 
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